


Second Chances & Second Choices

by dmux86



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anti-Social Jughead Jones, Archie Andrews Being an Asshole, Bughead never dated, F/M, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Investigations, NOT barchie friendly, Not Beta Read, Pining Jughead Jones, mentions of the other usual Riverdale crew, monogamous Jughead Jones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-24 22:00:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30078963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dmux86/pseuds/dmux86
Relationships: Alice Cooper/FP Jones II (background), Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper (past), Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge (background), Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	1. Window to the Past

It had been seven years (and about ten weeks or so) since they all graduated Riverdale High School, their graduating class nearly all pulling up stakes and bolting to various institutions of higher learning or academies that teach combat and teamwork.

Six years and some change since he was the only one to show up for the ‘annual Pop’s reunion’, spending hours in a booth and two more days in the bunker just to see if anyone else would show up. He hadn’t expected everyone, not after how things went at the end of senior year, but nobody at all showing up still stung deep in the part of him that always wondered if anyone really wanted him around. 

But Jughead ignored that pain and went back to Iowa, focused on his writing and didn’t bother properly staying in touch with anyone, even the blonde who still haunted his dreams, though they communicated and saw each other anyway. 

But then Toni had called him up a few days before, telling him about Pop’s retirement and begging him to spend a week or two in their shared town. So he showed up, and now he sat in the parking lot, waiting to see who else would show and reliving the memories from his teen years, seemingly half of which took place right here at this diner or at the speakeasy underneath it.

Those years had been chaotic and frankly rather traumatizing, from a dead classmate washing up and a predatory teacher to the voyeur tapes and cheating scandal that blew up the friend group right as high school came to an end. So many things Jughead Jones wishes had gone different… but there’s really only one thing he wishes he personally had done differently:

Every day at some point between waking up and going to bed, Jughead Jones wishes he had at some point worked up the nerve to tell or show Betty Cooper how he felt about her instead of simply pining away from the sidelines for years, wondering what it would be like to kiss her. 

There were plenty of chances, but the one that always sticks out is the Saturday after they found her sister Polly roughly a month into their Sophomore year of high school. He'd climbed up Fred's ladder to the second floor window, straight up flirted by calling her Juliet, and then did his best to comfort her as she paced around the room ranting about her fears and her family. Perhaps if she'd stopped her pacing about the room at a different point he would have gone through with it, but as he stammered and she asked what he wanted to say, his eyes caught on her pictures posted over her desk... where Archie's face showed up ten times more than his (the fact that Jughead's face was up there at all was a testament to Betty's stubbornness and their deep if unusual friendship) but more importantly there were so many pictures of Polly.

Her sister was missing, there was a murder to solve, and this was no time to take advantage of Betty and force a kiss on her or blurt out a decade's worth of repressed feelings.

So instead he pulled her in for a tight and at least outwardly platonic hug before asking if there was any part of Polly's story they could verify three months later. She suddenly remembered the car that Jason had hidden away, and the raced out to find it as the clouds outside started to rain and as he followed the blonde ponytail to their next clue, Jughead promised himself he would tell her how he left once things calmed down and went back to 'normal' in Riverdale.

Had he known how the next few years would go, he would never have dared waited for normalcy... and maybe saved Betty from some of the pain and heartbreak she would experience. Shaking those memories away, Jughead finally got out of FP's old truck and made his way inside, tugging his twenty year old beanie down over his dark hair.


	2. Chapter 2

Betty parked and breathed deeply, gripping the steering wheel hard enough to make her knuckles white, not sure if she was ready to face the people who had hurt her so badly at the end of her high school career.

Since the tumultuous ten days between prom and walking across the stage, the only RHS Class of 2020 members she had spoken to were Cheryl, who apparently wasn't coming, Kevin (and to an extent Fangs) who had invited her, and of course Jughead who she had last seen two and a half years ago at Christmas and still texted on occasion as he made his way up and down the west coast. Even as she thought about him, she caught sight of the beanie he somehow still wore and smiled, knowing she could face anything with him by her side.

Shutting off the cheap compact car she'd driven up from DC, she hurried to catch up to him, needing his support now like she had as a teenager... the one friend who had been with her through it all from a missing sister to the heartbreak that ended their time in Riverdale, both as a strong shoulder to cry on or fellow investigator to find the the truth. And there were plenty of times she thought there was more there, especially Sophomore year as her heart healed from Archie's rejection and they spent nearly every minute together till he was sent to Southside High.

Along the way he'd helped set up a baby shower, though he left early in a failed attempt to keep Archie out of the White Wyrm, resulting in some good sisterly teasing from Polly... one of the last truly good times the two blondes had shared before their lives fell apart completely. But he'd never made a move to deepen their relationship beyond platonic, and after the rejection from their mutual best friend Betty didn't dare do so first. And as time went on, it just became something she didn't consider, something that just couldn't happen. 

But when all was said and done she was so glad to have him as a friend, a confidant, the one person she knew she could trust even as her family and then her boyfriend let her down. Part of her wondered why they hadn't seen each other much, but for now she merely called out "Hey, Juggie... ", getting his attention and the slightly shy smile she's enjoyed causing for as long as she can remember.

"Hey Betts" he replies, opening his arms for a hug she gladly gives, burrowing into his warmth and squeezing him. "Surprised you showed up after... everything... " he adds, rubbing her back.

Betty nods, backing up and admitting "Wasn't sure I could handle it, but wanted to be here for Pop... but I'll be alright, even if they are both in there", looking up into his eyes "now that I have my favorite step-brother with me" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so on a scale of 'tagging everything ruins the fun' to 'tag your shit asshole' how are we feeling about this?

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted to get this up today but need to update the tags / summary and all of that good stuff, but hope the premise is interesting.


End file.
